New Broadband Law Planned for 2006

On Wednesday, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said his committee has plans to propose a “comprehensive” reworking of the U.S. telecommunications laws later this month, with a focus on the Internet, CNET News.com reports.

“We really want to get a comprehensive telecom reform bill to the president’s desk this year,” Rep. Barton, who chairs the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, said in speech at an annual “state of the Net” conference.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has come under scrutiny as of late because it does not take into account the rapid expansion of the Internet.

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a number of hearings this year to address the issue, and a reform bill will likely be a product of those hearings, CNET News.com reports.

Barton isn’t waiting for the Senate’s bill.  “We don’t have that many legislative days this year, so it is time to stop talking, and it is time to start working,” he said.

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